Football Fans Take New Train to the Game

Judy Silberstein, posted on September 24, 2009

Early Sunday morning, September 20, football fans were on the platform at the Larchmont train station to get autographs from former Jets wide receiver Wayne Chrebet and to board Metro-North’s new 10:18 train direct to the Meadowlands Sport Complex. Among the fans were Larchmont Mayor Liz Feld and New York Assemblyman George Latimer.

Former Jets wide receiver Wayne Chrebet signed autographs for fans at the Larchmont train station.

The 10:18 was the second of three trains on Sunday bound from New Haven to the Meadowlands. In all, 328 passengers took one of the New Haven trains to the game, according to Metro-North spokesperson Marjorie Anders. “It was a sea of green” on the Larchmont platform, she said.

The game train is a pilot program and will run only during Jets and Giants home games. Details of dates, connections and times can be found at: mta.info/mta/sports/

Larchmont Mayor Liz Feld boarded a train to the Meadowlands with former Jet Wayne Chrebet and Metro North President Howard R. Permut.

Assemblyman Latimer praised the train for getting fans to and from the games relatively inexpensively and “without driving, without adding to the congestion and air pollution on the roads, [and] without worrying about drunk driving issues.”

Ms. Anders said developing this new train service involved years of planning and the cooperation of three states – Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey – and four transportation agencies – CDOT, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Amtrak and New Jersey Transit.

The trains, which require capabilities beyond those of typical equipment on the New Haven line, are borrowed from New Jersey Transit and are only available for afternoon games. They are needed for regular runs the rest of the day.

It takes hours for a train to get from the terminal yard in New Jersey up to the starting point in New Haven, explained Ms. Anders. After the game, the train has to drop off fans in New Haven and make it back to the New Jersey yard in time to be cleaned, inspected, tested and ready for regular service.